Mothers fear for safety of youths in detentionTimes PicayuneLetters To The Editor

Saturday
May 17, 2003

This
past Sunday, instead of celebrating Mother's Day like many, we, along with
the more than 1,000 other mothers of children incarcerated in Louisiana's
juvenile detention centers, spent the day terrified for the safety of our
children. Janet Goins, the mother of the young man killed by a guard at Bridge
City recently, wasn't even this fortunate. She spent Mother's Day in deep
mourning.

Why
does the problem of our broken juvenile justice system continue year after
year despite the cries of so many families? How many children must be beaten
or killed before we recognize the truth -- that locking up children does not
help them, our families or our communities but only makes the problem worse?

As
parents, we believe in holding our children accountable and teaching them
to grow into responsible, caring adults. But this is not what happens when
you throw children behind bars for years with guards trained to respond only
with violence.

We
know what our children need. They need education, mental health care, faith
programs, job training and strong, supportive communities. Why do we have
such an expensive juvenile justice system that provides none of these services?

Our
state has the opportunity to change this situation this year. There is legislation
pending that would close the notorious Tallulah facility and put the millions
of dollars of savings into community based programs that truly educate and
rehabilitate.

We,
and other members of Families and Friends of Louisiana's Incarcerated Children,
challenge the Legislature to make next Mother's Day a day to celebrate.